Process of finishing wood surfaces with resin coatings



air-drying type,

Patented May 25, 1948 PROCESS OF FINISHING WOOD SURFACES I k WITH RESIN COA'I'ISGS William E. Berry and Melville M. Wilson, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to Intel-chemical Corporation, New York, N.

No Drawingns This invention relates to the art of wood finishing, and it includes a new method of obtaining clear or colored finishes having unusual resistance to abrasion, scratching, hot and cold liquids, organic solvents, and the like, and to the use of novel compositions for obtaining these results. The invention is particularly directed to a new coating composition which tionally characterized by their ease of polishing to a high gloss and lack of brittleness.

All wood finishing systems may be divided into two parts: (1) Preparation of the wood surface, and (2) covering the prepared surface with a continuous, protective film. The preparation of the wood surface, or first part, usually involves staining the wood, applying a stiffening coat to the raised fibers, sanding, and filling the pores of the wood, and the second part usually includes the application of one or more coatings of varnish, lacquer or resinous films (which may be called finish coats") often with sanding beyields finishes additween coats, and if desired, a final rub down or polishing with oil and pumice orsimilar fine abrasive.

In conventional practice the stifiening or w'ash coat consists of a thin'dlspersion of shellac orcellulose derivative in a volatile solvent, the pores of the wood are filled'with a'suspension of pigment in a drying oil or alkyd resin vehicle, and then one or more coats of a finishing varnish or lacquer are applied. The finish coat may contain a' transparent pigment to giveit a flat or dull appearance, or it is hardened sumci'ently to permit rubbing with pumice and oil to give the satin-like appearance desirable for furniture.-

Wood finishes of greater durability and resistfinishing wherein a surface, and a novel so be polished to a satin finish witnjluie usual sun n-' finish is highly resistant to abrasion,

ance to various liquids than the conventional oil varnishes have been prepared by employing one or more finish coats of heat-hardenable, synthetic resins. These finish coats may be of the but best results have been obtained when the finishes have been hardened by baking. For finishes of this kind the phenolformaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde and alkyd resins have been tried, and blends of these rash-15,;

suitably modified, have yielded the most satisfactory coating. compositions. (See the Maisch U. S. Patent No. 2,228,837, issued January 14, 1941, and the Oefllnger-and Stauifer U. S. Patent No. 2,201,914, issued May 21, 1940.)

Finishes containing appreciable amounts of phenolaldehyde resins can be baked to hard films which polish well, but long baking periods (and/or high temperatures) are required unless excessive amounts of accelerators are added the so-called Y., a corporation of Ohio 4 Claims. (01. 11-1-42) which cause, the films to become brittle. Similarly, the-urea resins jare too brittle, although they polish fairly well. The alkyd resins are too soft, and it is practically impossible to heat them long enough to obtain reasonably hard films without discoloration or damage tothe finish. Blends of all three of theseresins have been tried. including oil-modified alkyd resins and modified fossil gums, but as far as is known, no composition has heretofore been prepared which yields flexible films capable of being polished to the type of finish obt ed with the old air-dryin wood varnishes.

There have been two difllculties encountered in the preparation of these eat hardenable finishes for use on furniture, namely: (l) Obtaining a satisfactory bond between the finish and the wood, and (2) obtaining a coating which was sumciently flexible so that it would not crack or "high piano" finish,- satin-like finishes so desirable on furniture:

' This invention provides-a-"method of jvvood tight bond'j'is obtained between the heat-hardenable coatings and the wood finish coat which ischaracterized by its q ck heat hardening, lack of brittleness and relative ease with which it may ions for this fpurposa gdlsm scratching. organic solvents and: es-

ing 'composi hot and cold liquids, pecially-the mineral oils conventional polishing compositions.

The finishing composition of p a blend of three resinous componentsr mi Ureaformaldehyde resin soluble in alcohols, (b) g1ycerol-polycarboxylic acid resin containing com-t bined vegetable oils preferably. between' about 27% and 58% (based on combined fatty-acid), and (3) a glycerol esterof the reaction product. or rosin and a'dicarboxylic acid of the; type of maleic acid. The tight bond'between the wood surface and the employed as vehicle. in

this invention is heat-harden'able coatings; is ob;-

. tained by the use of a fwash. 'coat,-orthin dis persion, of a resinous composition containing, a which coat is applie urea-formaldehyde resin, I I to the wood surfacebeiorethe filler'a'ndit is not separately baked or otherwise deliberately heat-hardened. 1 V

. The urea-formaldehyde resin maybe made. in any of the usual ways which yield alcohol .soluble resins. Preferably,'the resinshould also be hyd ocarbon soluble to facilitate the use of the cheaper, more common solvents in wood finishing, and the preferred resins are those which have been rendered hydrocarbon soluble by re- The urea resin dispersion was made as follows:

Parts by weight Formaldehyde (37% by vol. in water) 1,520

Urea 446 Aqueous ammonia 30 Ammonium acid phosphate 3.38 Non-aqueous distillate from previous batch 1,950 Butanol 1,104 Solvesso #3-; 500 Octyl alcohol 90 The above materials were mixed in a kettle equipped with a distillation system. After heating for 12 hours at about 200 F. under total reflux, the volatile constituents were distilled. Due to the large quantity of water the distillates separated into two layers. The non-aqueous layer was decanted and saved for re-use in the next batch. This non-aqueous layer which is recycled in the process is the ingredient referred to as the non-aqueous distillate from previous batch," and it contained about 75% butanol. After 1950 parts of this non-aqueous layer were distilled the residue in the kettle was cooled and used directly in preparing the three-component finish. It has an approximate composition of The oil-modified glycerol-polycarboxylic acid resin may be made in conventional manner by reacting the glycerol, polycarboxylic acid and vegetable oils (or their fatty acids) together. In order that the resin may have the necessary flexibility and softness its composition should be within the limits of about 42% to about 73% of contained glycerol-polycarboxylic ester (e. g. glyceryl phthalate). That is, the oil modification should be at least about 27% and preferably not more than about 58% by weight of combined fatty acids. More 011 modification gives a product which is too soft and will not set sufficiently hard, and too little oil modification causes the final coating composition to become brittle and incompatible with the urea resins. A typical alkyd resin is given in Example 2.

Example 2 The alkyd resin dispersion mas made as fol- The phthalic anhydride, glycerol, linseed fatty acids and China wood on were heat d at 5 F.

quickly at relatively lowv 2. Other modifications of the resin in 1% hours, held at that temperature for an additional half hour and cooled to 475 F. The mixture was maintained at this temperature until the viscosity had risen to where the material could be drawn into a string about a half inch long. At this point the resin had an acid number between 15 and 20. Then the batch was cooled to 410 F. and the solvent naphtha slowly added over a period of about a half hour. The total reaction time was about 4 hours.

If it is desired to omit the China-wood oil, the resin may be made entirely with linseed fatty acids and diluted or extended with dehydrated castor oil to give a product having essentially similar properties as the resin shown in Example to produce a substance having the properties of the resin shown in Example 2 are familiar to those skilled in the art, the only limitation being the extent of oil modification, as indicated above. As for the degree of reaction or condensation, it has been found that best results are obtained when the resin is condensed as far as possible while still maintaining solubility in hydrocarbons and compatability with urea resins.

The modified rosin glycerol ester may also be made in conventional manner. The rosin should preferably be reacted with the polycarboxylic unsaturated acid, particularly maleic acid, until the acid-rosin adduct contains at least about 12% by weight of polycarboxylic acid, and generally not more than about 14%. Then the adduct is reacted with glycerol. The most desirable product is made by carrying the glycerol reaction to the point where the acid number is not more than about 35, and is preferably no greater than about 20. A typical maleic-rosin-glycerol complex is shown in Example 3.

Example 3 Parts by Weight Rosin 71.3 Maleic anhydride 11.6 Glycerol 17.1 Triphenyl phosphitc 0.3 The rosin was heated to 500 F. in a closed vessel equipped with reflex, cooled to 440 and the triphenyl phosphite catalyst added. After cooling to 400 F. the maleic anhydride was added over about one hour and the mixture heated to 450 F. After a half hour at this temperature the glycerol was added over a period of about two hours. When the pressure reached about 3 or 4 pounds gauge the exhaust valve was opened suflicientiy to prevent a further increase in pressure and the mixture was kept refluxing at 450 F. unti1 it was clear. Then the reflux was stopped and the material heated to 480 F, and held at that tem-- perature until it had a melting point of about C. The total reaction time was about 14 hours for a batch amounting toabout 3000 pounds.

I In preparing the final coating composition the urea-formaldehyde acid resins may be and glycerol polycarboxylic used in any proportions between the limits of about 1:3 and 3:1, as an excessive amount of the urea resin produces a brittle film and not enough makes it too soft. The rosin ester complex should preferably be present in the final composition to the extent of at least about 3% by weight, and it should not exceed about 20% by weight. Less rosin ester complex than about 3% does not impart the highly characteristic polishing properties to an appreciable extent, and more than about 20% tends to make the film brittle and reduces its ability to withstand extreme changes in temperature (as may be encountered in hom s in winter) without checking. Also, it is desirable to add an accelerator and oil driers to permit setting or hardening at reduced temperatures, or fast hardening at high temperatures. The preferred composition is given in Example 4.

Example 4 Per cent by weight Maleic-rosin ester of Example 3 Urea resin of Example 1 36 Glycerol-phthalate resin of Example 2 Alkyl ester of phosphoric acid Cobalt naphthenate drier (3.2% Go) 1 Hydrocarbon solvent 16 This coating composition may be sprayed on the wood (or otherwise applied), preferably over a filler, until a uniform film is deposited. After a preliminary air drying period to remove most of the volatile solvent the film is baked, preferably at a temperature not exceeding about 150 F. unless provision is made to maintain a relatively high humidity in the atmosphere surrounding the finish, as otherwise the finish may be blistered. The process of baking these finishes at temperatures from 150 F. to 250 F. under conditions of high humidity is described and claimed in our copending application Serial No. 393,556, filed May 15, 1941, now Patent No. 2,381,- 944, issued August 14, 1945.

The above described coating composition may be applied to the wood surface in any of the conventional ways. However, difllculty is sometimes encountered in securing a tight bond between the wood and the the tightest possible bond must be obtained it is necessary to give the wood surface a preliminary treatment which may be in the nature of a wash coat prior to the filling operation. After the wood has been smoothed and stained, it is customary to apply a stiffening solution or wash coat for the purpose of raising the uncut fibers left from the smoothing operation and stiffenin them sufilclently so that they may be removed by a subsequent sanding operation. Ordinarily the wash coat consists of a very thin dispersion of shellac, and more recently thin dispersions of some of the cellulose esters have been used. However, the heat-hardenable resin compositions do not adhere well to the wood if there is any appreciable ainount of shellac present. This may be due to the fact that at the baking temperatures employed the shellac tends to melt and loosen the top coat. Also, top coats containing ureaformaldehyde resins do not adhere well over films of the cellulose esters unless the film is applied so thinly that the pores of the wood are not blocked and the urea resin top coat can fill the pores sufliciently to obtain a mechanical bond. However, the use of a filler-tends to offset the advantages of the very thin cellulose ester film.

The heat-hardenable finishes or top coats-may I be made to adhere strongly to wood surfaces with or without the presence of 'fillers if a wash coat is employed which contains substantial quantities of urea-formaldehyde resins, For this purpose the urea resin described in Example 1 may be used, and it is preferably mixed with the glycerolpolycarboxylic acid resin described in Example 2. in about equal proportions. A mixture of these two resins is dispersed in suitable volatile solvents to produce a dispersion having about the same consistency or fluidity as the conventional wash coating composition, and wherelight coating therewith.

stained wood is given a It is unnecessary to bake the wash coat or otherwise employ special means for hardening the resin inasmuch as the resins set up sufficiently by air-drying'to raise and stiffen the wood fibers so that they may be removed directly by sanding. In fact, the tightest bond between the finish or top coat and the wood is obtained when the wash coat is not deliberately heat-set at all.

coat, and the smooth,

an oil modified-alkyd filler into the pores of the wood. This filler may be any of those disclosed in the art, such as, for example, the materials described in the Dietz and Oefllnger Patent No. 2,225,262, issued December 17, 1940. After heat setting of the filler, the top coat may be applied as described above.

We claim:

1. Process of obtaining a resistant finish on wood surfaces which comprises applying to the wood surface a thin dispersion of a mixture of an alcohol-soluble urea-formaldehyde resin and an oil modified glycerol-polycarboxylic acid resin in a volatile solvent, evaporating the solvent and applying a continuous coating comprising essentially three resinous components dispersed in a solvent; said components being (a) an alcoholsoluble urea-formaldehyde resin, (b) a fatty acid modified glycerol-polycarboxylic acid condensation product containing between about 27% and about 58% by weight of combined fatty acids, and (c) 9. glycerol ester of the reaction product of rosin and an unsaturated polycarboxylic acid; evaporating the solvent and subjecting said coating to an elevated temperature for a suflicient period of time to harden the same.

2. Process of obtaining a resistant finish on wood surfaces which comprises applying to the wood surface a thin'dispersion of a mixture of an alcohol-soluble urea-formaldehyde resin and an oil modified glycerol-polycarbcxylic acid resin in a volatile solvent, evaporating the solvent and applying a continuous coating comprising essentially three resinous components dispersed in a solvent; said components being (a) an alcoholsoluble urea-formaldehyde resin, (b) a fatty acid modified glycerol-polycarboxylic acid condensation product containing between about 27% and about 58% by weight of combined fatty acids, and (c) a glycerol ester of the reaction product of rosin and maleic acid; evaporating the solvent and subjecting said coating to an elevated temperature for a sufllcient eriod of time to harden the same.

3. Process of obtaining a resistant finish on wood-surfaces which comprises applying to the wood surface a thin dispersion of a mixture of an alcohol-soluble urea-formaldehyde resin and an oil modified glycerol-polycarboxylic acid resin in a volatile solvent, evaporating the solvent and applying a continuous coating comprising essentially three resinous components dispersed in a solvent; said components being (a) an alcoholsoluble urea-formaldehyde resin, (b) a fatty acid modified glycerol-phthalic acid condensation product containing between about 27% and about 58% by weight of combined fatty acids, and (c) a glycerol esterof the reaction product of rosin and maleic acid said reaction product containing between about 12% and about 14% maleic acid; evaporating the solvent and subjecting said coating to an elevated temperature for a sumcient period of time to harden the same.

4. Process of obtaining a resistant finish on After application of the wash coat and subsequent sanding of the wood surface,

is normally rubbedwood surfaces which comprises applying to the wood surface a thin dispersion of a mixture or an alcohol-soluble urea-formaldehyde resin and an oil modified glycerol-polycarboxylic acid resin in a volatile solvent, evaporating the solvent and applying a continuous coating comprising essentially three resinous components dispersed in a solvent; said components being (a) an alcoholsoluble urea-formaldehyde resin, (11) a fatty acid modified glycerol-phthalic acid condensation product containing between about 27% and about 58% by weight of combined fatty acids, and (c) a. glycerol ester of the reaction productof rosin and maleic acid said reaction product containing between about 12% and about 14% maleic acid; the ratio 01' said component a to said component 11 being within the range of about 1:3 and 3:1 by weight, and said component 0 being present in an amount of between about 3% and about 20% by weight in the final product; evaporating the solvent and subjecting said coating to an elevated temperature for a sumcient periodv of time to harden the same.

WILLIAM E. BERRY. MELVILIE M. WILSON.

8 anrnamwoas crrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,197,601 Bun'um Sept. 12. 1916 1,860,098 Jaeger May 24, 1932 1,927,086 Ellis -1 Sept. 19. 1933 2,063,239 Gabriel Dec. 8, 1936 2,143,618 Booty Jan. 10. 1939 2,174,132 Maisch Sept. 26, 1939 2,227,843 Quenelle Jan, 7, 1941 g 2,292,468 Oemnger Aug. 11, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 538,342 Great Britain July 30, 1941 I0 

